Last weekend, one of my closest and oldest friends, Brittaney, and I had a good ol' fashioned touristy afternoon. Several months ago, we bought Groupons for the Architecture Tour that is so often recommended by fellow Chicagoans and tourists alike and in lieu of their approaching expiration date, we decided to head downtown and board the boat.

It was a great little afternoon. We picked up lunch at Fox & Obel (is it possible to be in love with...er... I mean, how have I never been here before?) and afterward, heading toward the departing location of our boat.

Sure, it was freezing and I was, as usual, dressed inappropriately for the weather but our tour guide was a funny fellow and the cruise was quite nice. I'll be honest in saying that I didn't learn a great deal of new information about the city (due to the abnormal amount of time I spent learning Chicago's history prior to moving to the city three years ago), but did get a good amount of architecture terms thrown at me that I'll never be able to use in properly to describe anything ever again.

"Oh, that building? Looks like perhaps it's a member of the neoclassical revival in the Chicago school."

I have no idea if that's something.

After the cruise, we did a bit of Michigan Avenue Christmas shopping and thrifting up in Boystown. If that was not enough, we hit up the North Halsted Whole Foods for a salad bar dinner and were entertained by a symphony playing Lady Gaga in the adjacent Center on Halsted.

If your afternoon includes the Navy Pier, the Chicago River, and Michigan Avenue, well, then I'd call you a tourist. I might have to go watch a Bears game in a dive bar and eat a Chicago dog to make it up to the city.

Finally, I leave you with an image that's quickly becoming the cliche Chicago shot of the year: